Enter the OASys air conditioning system from Speakman Co. of Delaware.  Not an AC unit in the traditional sense, the OASys is more a relative of the evaporative cooler (some may know of the old swamp cooler), but with a much higher tech approach.

A glance at a schematic diagram may help understand how the system works:

“The OASys produces up to 3.5 tons of cooling while using less than 600 watts for an energy efficiency equivalent to better than 40 SEER. Switching to OASys cooling will result in an 80% energy savings without sacrificing comfort.”

OK, it’s a swamp cooler, you say.  Those of us who have experience with the old time swamp cooler know that it’s not the same as Freon-based AC.  But, OASys is not exactly the same.  We looked at the “testamonials” link for some user feedback.  Frequently the information available here is proprietary, but in this case we found someone with some good data:

“Hello all.  Following are sample readings from a 1600+ sq.ft. residence in Las Cruces, New Mexico (though 440 sq.ft. is the attached garage/workspace, since I usually keep access to the residence open for comfort in the workspace, it can be considered part of the building envelope).

Average 10 ft. ceilings in residence, 8 ft. garage, 2 upducts, turbine ceiling vent and insulated garage door, cold (flat) roof w/ 2 ft. separation coated with reflective foam.

Readings:

5/25/08; 1438 MST; Outdoor Temp 98.2 F.  Outdoor Hum. 17%(relative).  Indoor Temp 74 F.  Indoor Humidity 37%.  Plenum Temp low speed 65.2 F.; high speed 68.3F

5/29/08; 1519 MST; Outdoor temp 102.8 F; Outdoor Humidity 17%; Indoor temp 73.6F.; Humidity 51 %; Plenum temp low speed 68.1 F.

6/1/08; 1450 MST; Outdoor temp 108F; Outdoor Humidity 16%;Indoor temp 74F; Indoor Humidity 40%; Plenum temp 68.1 F.

Wattmeter w/ time base installed, initial reading 476 watts, low speed/pump/solenoid/controls; no low-flow water meter so far available, specs indicate less 2 gallons per hour at average purge settings.  Best Wishes, Dan Townsend”

Seems the OASys is a good option even in places where summer heat is to extremes.

Photos courtesy of  http://www.oasysairconditioner.com 

Filed under: products, green building products on August 5th, 2008